I'll Be Here
by kmccartneyyyy
Summary: Estella Grant, Lucius Malfoy's secretary, knows of his Death Eater ways and somehow understands and remains loyal to him. She constantly covers for him, but as Voldemort continues to get stronger, it all becomes too much.
1. Chapter 1

"Mr. Malfoy? I've got your papers here."

Lucius jumped and then spun around quickly, anger in his cold, grey eyes. When he noticed the pale witch standing in the doorframe of his large, cozy office, he relaxed a bit, his grip on his snakehead cane loosening. "Set them here, Miss Grant."

She flipped through the stack of papers once more and then set them neatly on his desk. Lucius moved swiftly to sit down, watching as she walked out of his office. If she was scared of him, she did not show it. Whenever he saw her, her face was set and blank, never so much as a smile played on her pink lips.

He had expected it. Miss Grant, otherwise known as Estella, his secretary, had come from a family of Death Eaters, so she recognized the signs. In passing, or standing together on the golden lifts of the Ministry, she would accidently bump into his left arm and he'd flinch. He would sometimes absently rub his left forearm while they were chatting. Estella also never failed to take notice of when he would take leave; a few days after his return, Voldemort's name would pop up in the papers.

Lucius could recall the day she confirmed her suspicions as if it were yesterday.

"_All right?" she asked him, closing the door to his office behind him. _

"_Yes, yes, I'm fine." He sighed angrily and stood up, waiting for her to hand him something to sign or read over. "What is it, Miss Grant? I'm terribly busy at the moment."_

_Estella's brown eyes scanned the room and then landed back on Lucius's. As he was not a practiced or in any way _good_ Legilimens, he had trouble reading her mind, nevermind her face. "I haven't got anything for you right now," she said. He tensed and sat back down in his large seat, fingering the snakehead cane in his hands. "You see, I've been thinking –"_

"_Well, you know how I feel about that." He was partially joking, but mostly serious. He narrowed his hard eyes."Get to it, Miss Grant, I don't have all day."_

_Estella took a step closer. Lucius had no idea why she was being so bold and confident. He cocked a blonde eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. "I know what you are – who you really are, Mr. Malfoy."_

"_What are you – Miss Grant, really," Lucius threw his hand in the air, one still firmly on his cane. "Hurry up, please! I haven't got –"_

"_You're a Death Eater," she said quietly in not so much in an accusatory tone, but in a matter-of-fact tone. Lucius opened his mouth to speak, but found that he couldn't talk. He couldn't think of what to say to something like that; he wanted to deny it. _

"_I'm not." It was stupid. He realized how stupid it sounded once it left his mouth and her accusation lingered in the air. He knew Estella was not believing it. "I'm not."_

_The corners of Estella's lips turned upwards and she held her hands behind her back. "My parents were Death Eaters, Mr. Malfoy." He could not understand why she was not running from his office, screaming. He was a head figure, a governor, in the Ministry of Magic – why wasn't she telling anyone? "They weren't bad people. They simply didn't know what they were getting into is all."_

_Lucius was speechless. Had he been so obvious? He looked away for a moment, trying to think of what he had done…_

"_Also, the Minister would like a word whenever you're…" she looked around again. "Free."_

His cold exterior was no longer there when Estella spoke to him. He was kinder and much more patient with her. Not once had they spoken of his Death Eater meetings or his past and he was very thankful for that. He patted himself on the back mentally for choosing such a good secretary.

He wasn't sure that Estella was his friend, though. He wanted to prove to her that he wasn't a horrible person, although he had done some horrible things before. She knew what was branded on his forearm, but did not try to sneak glances to make sure she was right. Estella never asked about it. He figured a young girl like her would be curious, but she proved to be satisfied with not knowing.

Several times he tried to make conversation about _her_ past. Estella was a pureblood, had been in Ravenclaw, achieved top marks in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and was Head Girl. He never her to talk much about her parents and he never recalled working with any Death Eaters with the last name 'Grant', so he dropped it eventually.

He had to admit that it was nice having her around. After Voldemort had returned to power, Lucius had lost most of his authority. No one was reporting to him anymore – it was to Voldemort. He wasn't number one or number two – that was Bellatrix Lestrange. He considered himself lucky that he was higher up than most.

What was nice about Estella was that she had been loyal to him every since he hired her. If he needed company, she would be there. If he needed work done, she was always willing to help. If he winced in pain and began to rub his forearm, she understood. And perhaps, most importantly, if he had to leave to go to a Death Eater meeting, she would cover for him.

Lucius sighed, something he did often these days, and stood up, walking over to the door. He opened it and froze, leaning against the doorframe. Estella was hard at work, her eyebrows furrowed and her quill scratching roughly against the piece of parchment in front of her. She quickly picked up a stamp with Lucius's signature on it and she stamped the paper hard, pushing it aside. He had no idea what the papers said, but with the money he was feeding Fudge, he knew he had power over the Minister.

She was young. Estella couldn't be older than thirty – now that he thought about it, she most likely was in her mid twenties.

She suddenly glanced at Lucius and jumped, laughing at herself. "Oh, I – good God! I didn't see you! How long were you standing there?" she asked, but he didn't answer. "I've got these for you to look over, Mr. Malfoy – bank transactions from your vault to the Ministry. I didn't know if you wanted to read them before signing…?"

"I don't need to read them," he replied, handing the parchment back to her. "It's only a little bit of money."

"A little bit?" she repeated, her eyes widening. "If you say so." She stamped the parchment and put it aside like she did with the others. He suddenly felt guilty; he wasn't paying her much, but she never complained. "Oh, and this was delivered a little bit ago. It's from your wife."

Estella handed the letter, sealed with the Malfoy crest, to Lucius. He opened it and read it so fast, his eyes looked like blurs. "You can toss it. I don't need it."

He handed it back to her and she threw it away, continuing to stamp papers.

"But have an owl ready for me when I return," he told her and she nodded. "I'll need to send my reply."

* * *

><p>Lucius arrived at the Ministry before Estella that day. Usually, it was her that greeted him, but she was at least half an hour late. He sat down at his office, waiting for her to poke her head through his door, letting him know she had come in for work.<p>

When she finally did open the door, he licked his lips and stood, prepared to give her a long, firm speech about her lateness, but he fell silent when he noticed her face. She looked tired and her brown eyes looked glazed over. There were bags under her eyes and she slumped her shoulders as she stood.

"I'm terribly sorry I'm late, Mr. Malfoy," she said with a hoarse voice. "Trouble at home."

He stared at her and nodded slowly. He definitely knew what that was like. "What er – happened?" He regretted asking at once. He didn't know how to comfort her. He wasn't any good at reassuring anyone, nevermind himself.

She looked shocked that he even asked, but she swallowed and replied, "My – my fiancée left me."

He raised an eyebrow. Lucius had no idea that she even had a fiancée. "You never told me you had a fiancée."

She paused. "I didn't think it appropriate to bring him up in any of the conversations we've had before," she answered quickly. "Besides, you never talked about your wife, why would I talk about my fiancée?"

Lucius smirked a little and sat back down. "You'll be all right to work, Miss Grant?"

"I believe so, Mr. Malfoy."

"Well…" he breathed in sharply. "Perhaps you'd like to join my family and me for dinner tonight? I could introduce you to my wife."

"I don't think tonight is a good night, sir. I'm sorry."

"I insist."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but I'm not dressed for the occasion and I think I've got enough on my mind. I'm sure she's lovely, but maybe I could meet her another night."

Lucius looked her over. He was dressed in a rich, black suit like every day and looked important and extremely wealthy. Estella wore more simple things to work. Sometimes pant suits, sometimes jeans and a nice sweater, but today she wore jeans and a simple, Slytherin green shirt. She dressed just like a Muggle and part of Lucius wanted her to go change into something nicer. "Let me do something for you," he pleaded and he felt vulnerable. Estella could tell – it wasn't everyday Lucius spoke to somebody like he was speaking to her. "Let me – let my family – make you feel better."

"If I say 'no', will you continue to pester me?" she asked without a trace of a smile.

"Oh, absolutely."

"You know I'm really not in the mood to be bothered."

"All the more reason to say 'yes', Miss Grant."

"Yes, very well, alright, I'll come."

"Thank you," Lucius said very quietly and Estella nodded, closing the door.

Later in the day, Lucius heard something outside his office door. He jumped up and ran over to the door, opening it to find that papers littered the floor in front of Estella's desk and an ink bottle had smashed, covering the papers with ink. Estella covered her mouth and Lucius saw that her eyes were red. She ran over and crouched down, picking up the ink bottle, putting the pieces and putting them in her trembling hand.

She saw Lucius's blonde hair out of the corner of her eyes and gasped. "Mr. Malfoy, I didn't mean to, I swear! I'm so sorry!" She dumped the pieces of the ink bottle in the wastebasket and pulled her wand out. It shook violently in her hand and with the back of her free hand, she wiped her eyes.

"I'll get it," Lucius muttered and he bent down and flicked his black wand, making the ink disappear from the parchment. She stood up with the now clean papers in her hand and sniffed, placing them in a neat stack on her desk again.

"Thank you – I didn't mean to do that, honest –"

"Don't worry about it." He wanted to go back in his office. He wasn't good at dealing with things like this. He didn't want to comfort her. He wouldn't know what to say or what to do. He could hardly comfort his own wife! "Er – you're fine. Look, I've got an errand to run. Could you do it for me? I figure a walk would do you good…"

She sniffed again and looked up at him.

"I need to visit my vault at Gringotts. You'll need to remove twenty Galleons and bring it back to me, understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," Estella whimpered. "I don't think they'll let me into the Malfoy vault, though."

"I send a letter ahead of time – I'll do it in a minute or so. My vault is guarded by a dragon, but I believe that a goblin –" he sneered a bit. "Will help you down there. Okay? Twenty Galleons."

"Your vault is guarded by a – a _dragon_?" Estella asked, quite surprised.

Lucius nodded. "I'll go write the letter."

As Estella grabbed her traveling cloak off the back of her chair, Lucius retreated back to his office, grabbing some parchment and dipping his quill in ink. He wrote a nasty letter to the Gringotts goblins, letting them know his secretary would need to remove twenty Galleons from his vault. He had no idea what he was going to use the money for – he didn't need it for anything at the moment. He felt that, since he didn't want to deal with her crying and he didn't want to comfort her, sending her on an errand would be sufficient.

He sealed the letter and tapped it with his wand. It burst into a flame and then disappeared before his eyes. Lucius then grabbed another blank sheet of parchment and wrote another letter, informing his wife that Estella Grant would be joining them for dinner. He sealed it once more and tapped it with his wand, sending it back to the Malfoy Manor.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Absently, he rubbed his forearm. It was beginning to sting again.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is ridiculous!" Estella stamped her foot and clenched her fists. "Mr. Malfoy sent me to retrieve twenty Galleons from his vault!"

The two goblins before her reread the letter for what seemed like the thirtieth time and Estella was beginning to get impatient. Her temper had flared all day long and she was irritated beyond belief with the goblins. While the one read the letter _again_, the other one looked her up and down suspiciously.

"I'm telling you, I'm his secretary! I'm Estella Marie Grant! Send him a letter, he knows me! He even told me what guards his vault!" I protested and other goblins working around the bank began to stare. "It's a dragon," she whispered.

"We'll get you the twenty Galleons," the one goblin said, folding the letter back up. "But you have to stay here."

Estella sighed and sighed. "Yes, alright, but could you please hurry up!"

* * *

><p>Estella returned to the Ministry of Magic two hours later with the twenty Galleons. Exhausted and even more irritated than before, she opened Lucius's office door and dropped the bag of gold on his desk. He took it slowly. "Do you have any idea how long it took for me to get this?" Estella said angrily, her eyes bloodshot. "The goblins had to read your letter about ten times until agreeing to get the gold! And I couldn't even go down to your vault with them – they made me wait on the main floor!"<p>

"Damn goblins," Lucius muttered under his breath. He frowned and stored the bag of gold in a desk drawer. "My wife is looking forward to meeting you." He held out his right arm and raised his eyebrows. "Are you ready to go?"

Estella glanced at him, looking at him suspiciously. "It's three o'clock in the afternoon. No one has dinner at three o'clock in the afternoon."

"Well, we won't be eating yet," Lucius shrugged. "But we'll have to give the house elves time to prepare dinner and it'll give you time to meet Narcissa and Draco."

"House elves prepare your dinner?" Estella asked, rather impressed. She always made her own dinner in the small kitchen of her London apartment. Her mouth was slightly open.

In one quick movement, without thinking, Lucius touched his left forearm with his right hand. When Estella glanced down at what he was doing, he pulled his hand away, quickly realizing what he had done. She pursed her lips and looked back up at Lucius. He cleared his throat and held out his right arm for her to take. "Let's go," he said. "We'll head out now. Narcissa is expecting us."

Estella hesitated for a fraction of a second. "I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but it seems that someone else is expecting you."

"No, I'm fine – it's fine," Lucius said quickly. Estella felt worried for him, but gently touched his arm, wrapping her fingers around his wrist as tightly as she could. Before she could blink, she felt something squeeze her body and she was twisting through the air, her breath leaving her. As she and Lucius landed hard against the ground, she breathed in deeply and out heavily, staggering a bit.

Lucius looked at her and led her in through tall, iron gates. She watched in amazement as they opened slowly for the two of them and they continued to walk past the magnificent gardens and the occasional, white peacock.

"Oh, they're lovely," Estella noted and Lucius glanced at the peacock and nodded shortly. It had been Narcissa's decision to put them in the gardens, not his.

Lucius stepped up two steps to the front door and walked in. Almost immediately, a blonde woman and teenager stepped into the foyer. The room was huge and incredible. The walls were lined with portraits, although like most wizarding pictures, the ones on the walls didn't move. Estella looked up and widened her eyes at the chandelier above her head.

The blonde woman approached her. "Estella, yes?" she asked and held out her hand. "Narcissa Malfoy. Lucius told me about everything that happened… so glad you could come for dinner…"

Estella's cheeks burned red and she saw the teenager look her up and down. Feeling self-conscious, she tried to avoid everyone's eyes by looking around the room. "Estella Grant, Mrs. Malfoy. What a lovely home you have, honestly."

"Thank you," Narcissa replied with absolutely no modesty. "This is our son, Draco."

"Hello, Draco," Estella said quietly, shaking his hand. Draco nodded and then pulled his hand away.

"Narcissa," Lucius boomed tiredly. "Have you let the elves know that we're having a guest for dinner?" He did not try hard to hide the tone of disgust in his voice while talking about the house-elves; it was the same tone he used while speaking about the goblins at Gringotts.

"I've already told them," Narcissa glanced at Lucius and then back at Estella. "They're preparing dinner as we speak." Narcissa kept on looking at Estella with what seemed like a cold look, but Estella ignored it. "Come, Estella, I'll show you to the drawing room."

Estella turned to Lucius, who was at her side, but Lucius simply nodded and walked behind her. They entered the drawing room, which sported another great chandelier and a marble fireplace. Narcissa wove through different rooms, some small and some large, talking about the house.

"Yes, we own all of Wiltshire, actually," she said outloud, while her son walked beside her. "Even the Muggle settlements, although they don't know that this Manor is even magical! They all know quite well to stay away from here.

"Oh, and you should see the fountain in the back! Do you know how much it cost? That fountain back there was a hundred galleons! And do you those peacocks came from…"

Estella, her stomach churning, looked back at Lucius again, who walked quicker to walk by her side. They entered the drawing room and Narcissa showed Estella a seat, which she took quickly. "Miss Grant," Lucius began. Estella looked at him, quite thankful. She knew she was in a place in which she did not belong. She never belonged in the aristocratic society and never would belong. "Please, tell my wife all that you accomplished during your time at Hogwarts. I think she'll be quite impressed."

"Oh, please, Mr. Malfoy, I didn't –"

"What House were you in?" Narcissa asked. "Slytherin?"

"No, ma'am," Estella replied quietly. "Ravenclaw."

"At least it wasn't Gryffindor," Narcissa smirked and looked at Lucius, who nodded absently, staring into the lit fire. Narcissa snapped her fingers and a house elf appeared in front of her, bowing low to the ground – so low that its head touched the ground.

"Yes, Mistress?" asked the house elf.

"Bring some of the Château Margaux," Narcissa snapped. "And three glasses. Quickly!"

Estella had no idea what Narcissa had just requested of the elf, but it bowed low again and disappeared with a _CRACK!_ Shifting in her seat a bit, Estella tried to make herself look a bit more presentable. She straightened up her posture and crossed one leg over the other, licking her lips and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. As she looked at Lucius, she blushed, realizing he had just seen her awkward repositioning and he smirked, looking back into the fire.

The elf had reappeared a second later with a bottle of red, almost black looking wine and Estella breathed in. Narcissa had the elf pour three glasses full of wine and Draco sat, looking on. So he wasn't of drinking age. He couldn't be much older than fifteen or sixteen. Narcissa handed a glass to Estella and Lucius and the elf disappeared once more.

"So, Estella," Narcissa began, sipping at her wine. Estella sipped at it as well. She had never had wine like that before – it was rich. "How long have you worked for my husband again?"

"Five years, ma'am."

"Please, tell me about yourself. Your parents?"

"Um, my parents were Death Eaters, ma'am," Estella replied, a bit embarrassed. She sipped at her wine again, hardly able to swallow it, but she did.

"Oh, I'm sorry, have they passed?" she asked, but her tone was still cold.

"No, ma'am," Estella looked down into her wine glass and swirled her wine around. "I haven't spoken to them since I graduated… They weren't so happy I wasn't sorted into Slytherin. I suppose they're off doing other things now. They've probably forgotten all about me."

"So you're a pure-blood?" Narcissa asked and Estella nodded. Narcissa, all of a sudden, sat up straight like Estella had done and when she spoke again, her tone was friendlier. "So, tell me about your Hogwarts years. Lucius tells me you had many accomplishments?"

"Not really, ma'am. He was probably just exaggerating," Estella blushed. "I mean, I did well in my classes and I was Head Girl…"

"Head Girl? Wonderful," Narcissa smiled slightly, pouring herself another glass of wine.

"Narcissa," Lucius interrupted. "While dinner is being prepared, you don't mind if I show our guest around to the lovely fountain in the back? She told me she'd love to see the gardens here."

Narcissa nodded curtly and Lucius and Estella stood up. She followed him through the drawing room and out to a back door. Estella would never have been able to find her way back if she had been alone. Lucius led her to a thin walkway surrounded by trimmed hedges and beautiful plants. The expensive fountain spit water elegantly, tying everything together.

The sun was going down. Lucius walked a little ahead of her, his cane tapping the ground every few seconds.

"I think I should go home," Estella told him quietly. "Mr. Malfoy, I don't belong here."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've never drank whatever kind of wine you had – and when I do drink cheap wine, it's in a regular glass or out of the bottle! I don't even like wine!"

"You'll stay for dinner, though? We're having duck – one of Draco's favorite meals."

"Duck? _Duck_?" Estella hissed, running a hand through her hair stressfully. "I've never even had duck!"

"Well, you'll have it tonight."

"Mr. Malfoy, face it, I don't belong in a huge manor drinking delicate wines and eating duck," Estella told him. Lucius didn't look at her. "I belong at home in my apartment eating noodles and drinking water."

"Stay for dinner," Lucius said, glancing at her over his shoulder. "And then you can go home right after that."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"More wine, Estella?" Narcissa asked her, holding up the bottle.<p>

"No, thank you, ma'am," Estella said, slowly eating her duck. It truthfully wasn't that bad and much more bearable than the wine.

It was quiet for a moment. "What are you parents names? I might have known them when I went to school. They would have been only a few years ahead of me – Lucius – perhaps you'd know…?"

Estella wasn't dumb. Lucius obviously hadn't told her that Estella knew he was a Death Eater. Estella's parents most likely weren't in school with Narcissa or Lucius, but Narcissa simply wanted to figure out if she knew her parents as Death Eaters. Regardless, Estella answered her politely. "Er – Jane and Edward Grant."

Narcissa looked at Estella, thinking for a moment. "No, I don't believe I know them. Slytherin, you say?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Hm, I've never heard of Jane and Edward Grant before."

Estella didn't say anything. She looked a bit uncomfortable and Lucius stuck to his promise. As soon as dinner ended, he ushered her outside the gates and she Disapparated back to her London flat.

* * *

><p>Estella lazily climbed the four stairs of her apartment complex. She couldn't exactly Apparate in the building because of the Muggle residents and some of her friends were Muggles and didn't know she was a witch. If one of her friends was in her apartment while she Apparated – there would be a lot of explaining to do.<p>

When Estella opened the door, she noticed the lights were on. She always turned her lights off before leaving for work and when she walked in further, her heart sank.

"Where were you?" He was sitting on her couch, his dark brown hair sticking up, his eyes red and his cheeks covered in stubble. He stood up, wearing a white, sleeveless shirt with stains all over it. "Where were you?"

"Get out, David," Estella said, her voice shaky. "Get out! We aren't together anymore! You left me!"

David didn't seem to hear. He reached out to touch her, but she quickly dodged him, touching her wand that was stuffed in her jeans pocket.

"You get out and stay away from me," she warned him.

David stepped closer. "Estella, I'm sorry –"

"You're drunk."

"Where were you?"

"I was at – at someone's house for dinner," she said, but she didn't know why. David had no right knowing where she was. He got closer to her and Estella glanced up at the light above his head. He went to touch her again, but the lamp fell onto David's head and he backed away, clutching his head in his hands. He cried out.

The light bulb broke on the ground and shattered at Estella's feet. The ceiling had a small hole in it. As David looked up, she saw the glass had cut him where his hairline began and blood dripped down his forehead. "You made that happen!" he shouted.

Estella shook her head, but thanked Merlin that it actually worked. Last time she tried to make something fall on him, the picture off the wall smacked her in the back of her head.

"You made it fall on me with you damn freak powers!" David yelled at her.

"No, I didn't! Look!" Estella showed David that her want was still in her pocket. She held it up and David knocked her wand out of her hand. She went to run for it, but David had his arms wrapped around her waist and tackled her to the ground, her head bouncing off the hardwood floor. She groaned. "Get off me!"

Estella reached out for her wand, but couldn't reach it while David was holding her down. She slowly tried to inch to it, getting closer and closer. If she just reached a bit more…

She felt David's hand touch her neck and his thick fingers closed around throat. She elbowed his chest, but he only barely flinched. He wasn't paying attention and Estella finally reached her wand and quickly touched the tip of it to his skin. It sent a shock though David's body and he cried out again, falling off her and partially Stunned.

"Get out!" she yelled at him, pointing her wand at him. He carefully stood up and stumbled towards the door, shouting insults and curse words at her before she slammed it shut, and then locked it with magic.

Tears brimming her eyes, Estella slid down the door and sat down, bringing her knees to her chest and breathing heavily. All of a sudden, something pounded against the other side of her door. It shook, but with the magic Estella put on it, it wouldn't break or open. David kicked the door on the other side and Estella began to cry, being as silent as she could.

"Open the damn door, Estella!" David cried from outside.

She was quiet.

"Open this door or I'll break it down!"

He continued to swear and curse and yell threats and insults. Estella stood up and ran through her apartment to her bedroom, where she closed and locked that door too, lying down and closing her eyes.


End file.
